Given name & surname · also Arabic
Amir
“a prince”·“from the treetop”
Amir is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “a prince” and “from the treetop”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Original Arabicأَمِيرٌ
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “a prince” and “from the treetop”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.
How it developed
From Arabic أَمِير (“commander, prince”); its root is Arabic ء م ر.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1954. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Amir through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 56,257
- 55,747 boys · 510 girls
- Most popular year
- 2023
- 3,647 babies
- 2025
- 3,308
- #105 for boys · #8,899 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +22%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 3,297 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 105 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 22.6% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 11 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, Florida had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (320). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 38,482 as a first name in 2020; 2,351 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Amir’s family of names
In Slovenian usage, Amir has a feminine form in Amira. Amir has a related form in Amer. In English usage, Amir has an alternative spelling in Ameer.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Amir has relatives in 15 languages. Lines run from its Hebrew roots to each of them.
Nicknames & forms 11
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Amirivariant
- Ameervariant · English
- Ameirvariant
- Amervariant
- Amiervariant
- Amyrvariant
- Amilvariant · tsg
- Amirrlikely variant
Show 3 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 6
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 15
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- أَمِيرٌArabic
- עָמִירHebrew
- אָמִירHebrew
- أَمِيرArabic
- Amirafeminine form · Slovene, English
- Emirdoublet · English, Turkish
- Admiraldoublet · English
- Әмирequivalent
Show 7 moreShow fewer
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Amir
- Amir KhusrauIndian poet, writer, singer and scholar (1253–1325)
- Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrahcompanion of Muhammad and military leader (583–639)
- Amir KarićSlovenian association football playerborn 1973
- Amir-Abbas HoveydaIranian politician (1919-1979)
- Amir AbrashiAlbanian-Swiss association football player (born 1990)
- Amir PeretzIsraeli politician and former leader of the Israeli Labor Partyborn 1952
- Amir RrahmaniKosovar footballer (born 1994)
- Amir KhanBritish boxerborn 1986
- Amir SarkhoshIranian snooker playerborn 1991
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Amir, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Cyrus
“a king”
99% boys · 1% girls
Abimelech
“the Father is king”
>99% boys
Ahasveros
“chief king”
—
Otto
“a wealthy man”
>99% boys
Aldric
“an old king”
>99% boys
𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩
“king's son”
>99% boys
Шахислам
“shah, king”
>99% boys
খান
“born to royalty; a prince”
>99% boys